Volume growth in India's smartphone market will fall to 24%: Samsung

In 2015, India smartphone shipments grew 28.8 per cent to 103.6 million, positioning it as one of the fastest-growing smartphone markets in Asia-Pacific, as per IDC.ET Bureau | August 12, 2016, 08:44 IST

South Korea’s Samsung expects growth in India’s smartphone market to slow down to 23-24% this year by volume, compared with the 30% growth the market saw last year.

The market leader, however, expects its sales to outgrow the market on the back of phone models available across price segments.

“Market growth rate is bound to go down, due to the base effect,” Manu Sharma, head of Samsung’s mobile phone business said.

His comments underline the trend that current smartphone sales are being driven mostly by replacements with fewer new smartphone users, mainly due to the affordability factor.

Smartphone penetration in India is estimated to be around 35% of the population at present. In 2015, India smartphone shipments grew 28.8% to 103.6 million, positioning it as one of the fastest-growing smartphone markets in Asia-Pacific, as per IDC.

The research firm expects growth in 2016 to be in double digits. The base effect will also have an impact on sales by value for the market, which would come down to 16-18% this year, from 20% last year, Sharma said while talking on the sidelines of the launch of the Galaxy Note 7 Thursday.

Samsung competes closely with rival Apple in the premium segment, which is almost divided between the two companies. As of June end, the South Korean smartphone maker led the segment with 54.1% share by value, as per GfK data.

“We believe Note series will help us consolidate our share in the premium segment (Rs 30,000 upwards),” Sharma said. In the phablet segment, which is upwards of 5.5-inch screen size, Samsung dominates with 80% share.